Tonight we practiced playing:
Intermediate tricks:
Target Mark, where the dog goes to a low target 5 feet from the handler and waits in any position for five seconds until released.
Side-step perch work, with the front feet on a perch the dog circles the object with his front feet staying in place on the perch and the rear feet pivoting around the perch; the handler stands in front of the dog as the dog moves. The dog should pivot 360 degrees in either direction.
We briefly played with Hold Object in Mouth, where the dog holds any object in their mouth for 5 seconds.
We are learning Barrel racing in agility, which is where the dog leaves the handler and goes around a barrel at least two feet away from the handler.
Advanced tricks:
Head down/Chin rest: the dog places her chin down on the handler's palm and holds the position for at least 5 seconds.
Tap Light: the dog uses her paw to activate a tap button.
Wave: the dog raises her front paw in a wave.
Bow "Bravo!": the dog bows with elbows on the ground while the rear end stays in standing position. dog should hold the bow position for 4 seconds.
Pearls:
- Start with the finished trick in mind, and piece together building block behaviors starting with the simplest form of the behavior and reinforcing for all and every correct effort
- Trick training is an activity where using a clicker really shines
